IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Canada’s Approach to Settlement and Integration of Immigrants and Refugees

Context

Settlement services are essential to helping immigrants and refugees succeed in Canada, playing a critical role in their integration journey. Many new immigrants and refugees encounter barriers such as lack of official language knowledge, limited Canadian work experience, challenges with foreign credential recognition, cultural differences, and social isolation.

To address these challenges, federally-funded services are available both pre-arrival and in Canada (outside of Quebec). The Settlement and Resettlement Assistance Programs are grants and contributions programs that assist new immigrants and refugees in overcoming settlement-specific obstacles, fostering a sense of belonging in Canadian communities, and facilitating their integration into the labour market and society. The Settlement Program is available to permanent residents (including resettled refugees) and protected persons, as well as certain temporary resident participants of targeted programs and pilots, while the Resettlement Assistance Program is available to Government-Assisted Refugees and other eligible clients.

Canada’s collaborative approach to settlement and integration

• Achieving successful settlement and integration in Canada involves all levels of government, as well as private and public sectors and civil society.
• The federal government provides settlement and resettlement funding, the Interim Federal Health Program (temporary health coverage to resettled refugees, protected persons and refugee claimants), and the Immigration Loan Program (financial aid mainly for resettled refugees covering landing fees, travel and resettlement costs), while supporting credential recognition loans (via Employment and Social Development Canada) and labour market supports.
• Provinces and territories deliver education, health care, and social services, along with credential recognition for regulated professions.
• Municipalities focus on housing, transit, and community spaces (e.g., libraries, community centers).
• Civil society, including settlement provider organizations (SPOs) that deliver the settlement services, Francophone minority communities, volunteers, and employers, plays a vital role in fostering inclusive communities.

Federally-funded supports

The Settlement Program

• For the 2025–2026 fiscal year, the Government of Canada is investing $1.125 billion to meet the settlement needs of immigrants and other eligible clients (outside Quebec). Under the Canada–Quebec Accord, the province of Quebec receives an annual federal grant to design, deliver, and administer its own settlement programming.
• Federally-funded services are delivered by more than 530 third-party service provider organizations across Canada (including close to 80 Francophone service providers in Francophone-minority communities) and include:
  • pre-arrival services;
  • needs and assets assessments and referrals services;
  • case management services;
  • information and orientation sessions;
  • language assessment and training in English and French;
  • employment-related services;
  • Support services that eliminate barriers to accessing the Settlement Program such as childcare, interpretation and translation, short-term counselling, provisions for persons with disabilities, digital supports, and transportation; and
  • Indirect services that promote capacity building, coordination, and standardization of services, with either a national/sector or local/community focus.
• A key part of the Settlement Program are services that foster connections to communities. These include:
  • Community Connections services, which help immigrants fully participate in Canadian life by fostering welcoming, inclusive spaces and engaging local communities.
  • The Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) / Travailleurs(euses) d’établissement dans les écoles (TEE) program, which supports immigrant youth as they integrate into the school system through group activities and events. They also assist families in navigating the school system and collaborate with staff to address the unique needs of immigrants.
  • The Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative, launched in 2018, supports French-speaking immigrants in Francophone and Acadian communities. This community-led initiative involves 24 selected communities working to create inclusive spaces where French-speaking immigrants feel valued and develop a strong sense of belonging, fostering lasting ties between immigrants and their communities.
  • Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs), including seven Zonal Immigration Partnerships, and 13 Réseaux en immigration francophones (RIFs), which coordinate community-level services through cross-sector collaboration. LIPs address general immigrant needs, while RIFs focus on the unique challenges faced by French-speaking immigrants. Together, these partnerships provide indirect settlement services that build welcoming communities and promote integration as a two-way process.

Tailored supports for specific immigrant populations

• Tailored supports are offered in recognition that some immigrants face multiple and/or more complex barriers on their integration journey. Tailored supports may be available to women (with priority given to racialized immigrant women), youth, seniors, 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, and people with disabilities.
• As an unfunded partner of the Youth Employment Skills Strategy, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has committed to providing youth-targeted Employment-related Services through Settlement Program base funding to 4,000 clients in fiscal year 2025–2026.
• The Francophone Integration Pathway (FIP) is a complete suite of settlement services in French, specifically designed to meet the needs of French-speaking immigrants and delivered in a coordinated and integrated manner by Francophone community organizations. It aims at facilitating integration, as well as the creation of lasting ties between immigrants and Francophone communities outside Quebec. The FIP is a cornerstone of the Policy on Francophone Immigration.
  • Over the course of the current funding cycle (2025–2028), IRCC is investing approximately $277 million in Francophone programming through its base settlement funding, complemented by temporary investments received through the Official Languages Action Plan.
• Case Management services are specifically tailored for clients facing persistent multiple barriers in their integration journey. While available to any eligible client, the majority of clients are refugees who require more intensive and coordinated supports.

The Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP)

• In addition to the range of settlement services offered to all new permanent residents, Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) and certain other eligible clients receive supplementary services and supports under the RAP.
• In-Canada RAP services are delivered to GARs through contribution agreements with 44 service provider organizations in 46 resettlement communities across Canada, outside of Quebec. This includes Francophone RAP service providers in four communities that welcome resettled refugees who choose to receive services in French.
• For the 2025–2026 fiscal year, the Government of Canada is planning to invest over $332.6 million through the RAP to meet the resettlement needs of GARs and other eligible clients outside Quebec.
• Key components of the RAP include:
  • Overseas services (pre-departure assistance) funding supports refugee identification, assessment and referrals of GARs. Funding also supports direct assistance to clients during the application process overseas such as translation; interpretation; logistical support and transportation to attend biometrics appointments, immigration health exams, and to reach the point of departure. Also, this funding supports orientation training to assist clients with their travel and preparing for life in Canada.
  • Immediate and essential services in Canada (during the first four to six weeks in Canada): airport reception, temporary accommodations and help finding permanent housing, immediate and essential orientation, links to federal and provincial programs, needs assessments and referrals to settlement/community services.
  • Financial support: a one-time start-up payment to purchase household necessities and monthly income support payments for up to 12 months (or 24 months for high-needs cases) or until clients are able to support themselves, whichever comes first. Monthly income support rates are aligned with provincial social assistance rates in the province of residence.

Settlement supports for crisis populations

• IRCC has mobilized in recent years to provide supports and services to non-refugee clients arriving through various pathways as part of the federal government response to crises (e.g., Ukraine, Americas, Gaza, etc.).
• IRCC has provided crisis cohorts with key supports, such as transitional financial assistance under the Resettlement Assistance Program, temporary accommodation, and access to settlement services.
• IRCC’s Crisis Response Framework guides IRCC’s analysis of, and decision-making related to, emerging crisis situations, including in relation to the provision of supports and services.

Intake processes

• IRCC provides most of its funding in response to requests received as part of a national Call for Proposals (CFP) or other solicited processes.
• The most recent national Call for Proposals (CFP2024) closed on January 31, 2024, with resulting funding agreements beginning April 1, 2025, until March 31, 2028.
• The Department intends to extend most agreements by one additional year to March 31, 2029, to provide as much stability to the sector as possible during uncertain times.

Immigrant and refugee outcomes and challenges

• Successful integration in Canada is demonstrated in economic outcomes as well as in social integration and public support.
  • Contributing to economic growth: High education rates and strong labour market presence.
  • Strong social/civic integration: Levels of voting, volunteering and charitable giving are comparable to Canadian-born.
  • Established sense of belonging: High reported levels among immigrants and refugees who feel a sense of belonging in Canada.
  • High naturalization rates: Vast majority of immigrants and refugees become Canadian citizens.
  • Public support: Canada has benefited from a strong public consensus on the benefits of immigration, although public opinion towards immigrants, including refugees, has been trending in a negative direction, reflecting broader concerns about absorptive capacity and the economy.
• There are ongoing and emerging challenges that can be addressed through our evidence-based policies, programs, and a whole-of-society approach. These challenges include:
  • Social cohesion and inclusion: Many immigrants and refugees are racialized individuals, so it is important to continue to build capacity around anti-racism and equity (including gender equity) considerations.
  • Recognition of Foreign Credentials: Many immigrants and refugees are working in jobs that are not commensurate with their skills; there continue to be long delays in recognizing foreign credentials in key sectors such as health care.
  • Higher-needs immigrants: Higher numbers of immigrants and refugees with increasingly complex settlement needs put pressure on available supports.

Moving forward…

• The successful settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees is critical to Canada’s economic growth and for maintaining public support for immigration.
• As Canada continues to welcome immigrants and refugees coming from diverse backgrounds each year, settlement and integration supports will remain important to supporting strong outcomes in an environment of fiscal restraint.

Immigration Levels Plan and Funding Reductions

• Settlement Program funding is directly linked to the projected number and composition (mix of categories) of newcomers admitted to Canada each year, as outlined in the annual Immigration Levels Plan. As a result of the decrease in immigration levels in 2025 and stabilized admission targets in the 2026–2028 Levels Plan, as well as changes to the mix of planned immigrants, Settlement Program funding is decreasing.
• Additionally, as set out in Budget 2025, some savings proposed as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review will come from the Settlement Program, specifically by reducing the length of eligibility for economic class immigrants and from finding efficiencies in program delivery.
• As a result, in 2026–2027, the Government of Canada anticipates investing approximately $935.7M to support the settlement needs of newcomers outside of Quebec, a decrease of 9.5% (approximately $98.1M) compared to the previous 2026–2027 notional allocations, which were used by the Department to negotiate existing agreements with settlement service provider organizations. At this time, Settlement Program funding is anticipated to decrease further to $895.0M in 2027–2028, and $783.7M in 2028–2029.
• The Department is in the process of re-negotiating existing agreements for downward amendments with settlement service provider organizations, in order to achieve the required savings after sharing revised funding amounts with SPOs February 26, 2026.
• There are various other financial pressures and cost drivers that impact the Settlement Program. Settlement services support both new and past arrivals, meaning that demand for services can remain high even as immigration levels start decreasing. In recent years, the program has absorbed costs associated with various international crisis responses and pilot programs, without corresponding funding increases.
• As result of these funding decreases and pressures, the Settlement Program is examining how to ensure the long-term sustainability of the program.

Settlement Program Renewal and Program Changes

• The Settlement Program is introducing various changes to align to the current fiscal environment:
  • The length of eligibility for economic class permanent residents will be reduced to six years starting in April 2026 and to five years starting April 2027.
  • As a result of lower funding levels during the current funding cycle, Stage 2 Language Instruction (advanced language training) will be phased out by September 2026. This will allow IRCC to prioritize funding for Stage 1 language training, which provides basic language skills to support newcomers’ integration into their communities and the workforce, and helps them attain their citizenship goals.
  • In the medium term, the Program Renewal initiative will present an updated vision for the programs that will explore efficiencies and make targeted improvements to ensure the long-term sustainability of the program while continuing to deliver high quality services and support clients in achieving strong outcomes.

Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR)

• The federal government employs a whole-of-government approach to remove barriers to foreign credential recognition for immigrants. IRCC, Employment and Social Development Canada and Health Canada are the primary departments engaged in this work.
• From January 2025 to January 2026, the Department co-chaired the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration (FMRI) Foreign Credential Recognition Action Group. This group, comprised of ten provinces and territories as well as Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Health Canada, developed an immigration-focused action plan which was finalized in February 2026 and will be presented to senior levels of FMRI over the coming months.
• Building on the work of the FMRI FCR Action Group, the Department worked with ESDC to launch a joint Forum of Labour Market Ministers and Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration FCR Task Force. This Task Force, which includes all provinces and territories expect for the Northwest Territories, will address FCR-related issues across the entire continuum (from immigrant selection and pre-arrival services to labour market integration and retention).